vac

AXPONA 2017: Lee’s Best of Show

June 24, 2017

This year’s AXPONA was the second one I attended and I thought it was a very well produced event. Many manufacturers were represented and attendance appeared very healthy. And there is no shortage of good out-of-the-hotel dining [...]

High End 2017: Von Schweikert Audio goes ultra

June 2, 2017

I can tell when I get to speak to smart people and Damon Von Schweikert with Leif Swanson gave me that impression, of knowing what they are doing and better yet, knowing that brute force is not the answer to everything. But they brought in a [...]

AXPONA 2017: Von Schweikert and VAC go big, listeners go home envious

May 13, 2017

It’s always fascinating to see what speaker makers come up with when cost is no object. I’m not referring to the many models out there that use expensive drivers, top-shelf parts or intricate cabinets. No, we’re talking real budget-be-damned, [...]

RMAF 2016 Wrap: Mission Accomplished/Best of Show

December 11, 2016

Escaping on the last jet out of Denver after the close of Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2016, I felt a little like the nervous spy-support staff member Faisil in the 1994 movie “True Lies.” Reporting on his recent deployment activities to a [...]

RMAF 2016: VAC, Harbeth Make the BBC Proud

October 23, 2016

I occasionally stumble across an album I haven’t played in decades, and a quick spin brings back the high school or college memories of where I was, what I was doing and which girl (or girls) I had a secret crush on. It’s not often, though, that [...]

Newport 2016: Nola, VAC soar into the atmosphere

July 14, 2016

When I entered the Nola/Valve Amplification Co. room at T.H.E. show in Newport, a distinctive repeating pattern of delicately plucked notes began playing. As the rhythm line continued on the acoustic guitar, suddenly there was a loud burst: [...]

AXPONA 2016: Blue Smoke locates Black Box

May 18, 2016

Usually in the high-end, “blue smoke” is not something you want to hear in the same sentence as “tubes.” Unless, of course, we’re talking about Blue Smoke Entertainment Systems and their AXPONA 2016 room, which featured gear from Valve [...]

RMAF 2014 Roundup, Part 2: Big Rooms with Big Speakers

October 25, 2014

by Darryl Lindberg VAC, Apex Audio: Focal Grande Uptopia EM The two large rooms featuring the Focal Grande Utopia EMs—VAC and Axis—produced fine sounds, as you’d expect, given prices asked for this stuff. The Grandes are really big speakers [...]

RMAF 2014: VAC versus the Real Thing

October 12, 2014

By John Stancavage Valve Amplification Company was spinning one great LP after another at RMAF 2014, when suddenly an attractive blond woman on the first row jumped out of her seat. “Where did you get that?” she asked, as the VAC rep placed a [...]

New York 2014: Focal and VAC go B-I-G

September 30, 2014

I like to joke about big speakers being some kind of compensation thing, but the truth is, they have a distinctive sonic presence that’s just impossible to fake. They sound, not to put too fine a point on it, big. In some respects, [...]